Very emotional story.

This is the only group I thought to post this since its for artists, and writing is an art.

I decided to write about a big moment in my life. The first time I had an allergic reaction and almost died. I haven’t even thought about this day since it happened, but as I approach the one year anniversary, I felt motivated to finally write.

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The day my life almost ended.

I was 17 years old when I was diagnosed with a multitude of problems. I began feeling different. Have you ever ‘slept’ for 56 hours straight and developed a sudden allergic reaction to almost all foods? It’s a scary thing.

September 22nd of 2017 is where it all began. I was with a couple friends; estastic to finally be feeling okay enough to see the people closest to me. We were all sitting in a circle in my living room, smoking from our vapes, eating strawberries, and talking about our hopes for life. My new cat was laying within the circle probably wondering why we were still up.

I began feeling a tightening in my throat. I’ve had panic attacks for most of my life so I figured it was just one of those, since talks about my future always brought on anxiety. I was able to tolerate it for a bit, getting up to go get a water and to sit back down in our circle. All of a sudden, I was sweaty. I felt like I was burning from the inside of my body out. You could have laid a bag of popcorn seeds on my skin and it would have produced some burnt popcorn. My throat was getting tighter. My friends all looked at me concerned, I don’t know whether it was because I stopped talking or because my face was now 50 shades of red.

“Ken, are you okay?” I tried saying yes but nothing would come out. I kept guzzling water like there was no tomorrow. I didn’t realize that the possibility of me not having a tomorrow was my reality.

I was froze in fear. This wasn’t an anxiety attack. I could no longer breathe. I stood up as fast as I could, and tried muttering more words but nothing would come out. I took a step and got a sudden feeling of dizziness that took over my body. My friends jumped up. The one grabbed a water, another grabbed my hand, and the last went for the door.

“Hospital.” Is all I was able to say.

I didn’t know that day would play a big part of my life. The ride to the hospital was eerie. The drive was agonizing. My throat was so tight. I kept itching at it trying to find a release. I was trying to find a way to get some oxygen. I could no longer breath out of my nose or mouth. I can remember bits and pieces before I passed out a block before the hospital at a red stoplight. I remember waking up at the hospital.

“Allergic reaction.” I had only had one allergic reaction in my 17 years of life before then. I was 7 years old and had ate my favorite fruit, a kiwi. My lips got puffy and my mouth swelled, but nothing as intense as this. I didn’t know this could have been my last time alive. I always think about the what if’s.

What if my friends wouldn’t have reacted that fast? What if I would have died without telling my family I loved them? My sisters, brothers, mom, grandparents would have been lost without my bubbly presence.

To think, people die in crazy ways all the time. My almost death was caused by a strawberry.

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